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ALL DAY THEY TRAVELED. 



The Face in the Forest 


hat Big Sister Brought 
Bobbie 


BY 

Irene Myers 


ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

Gerald B. Carpenter 


PRESS OF 

FRANKLIN HUDSON PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
KANSAS CITY, MO. 


Copyrighted, 1912 
by 

MINNIE MYERS, 
Kansas City, Mo. 



“I Wish You Did Have the Chance, My Son” 9 
The Face in the Forest, - - - 17 

“It ’s Mine, It ’s Mine, My Boy! *’ - - 43 

“Oh! I ’m So Glad You ve Come, ” He Said, 

Clinging Tightly to Her Hand, - 49^ 

“It Seems to Me That You Spent Your Money 
in a Very Good Way, Bobbie,” Said 
Mother, 59 









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The Face in the Forest 


It was the last week in September, 
and college was to begin the first of Oc- 
tober. How Ralph longed to go! Just 
three months previous he had graduated 
from the Rockport High School with very 
high honors — had been president and 
valedictorian of his class and editor of 
the high-school paper. He had been a 
conscientious student through the gram- 
mar grades and high school, and conse- 
quently was popular with the faculty. 
His classmates liked him because he was 
always honorable and square and because 
he was a splendid leader in fights — lit- 
erary and otherwise, and they each and 
every one regretted that Ralph could 
not begin his life with a college diploma. 
To Ralph, however, that seemed an ideal 

5 


which it was impossible for him to at- 
tain. Never had he longed for anything 
as he had for a college education. He 
heard his classmates discussing the va- 
rious schools and pointing out the ad- 
vantages to be had at each; he realized 
more than most boys of his age what a 
college education meant to a man; he 
planned his curriculum again and again, 
and dreamed every night of himself at 
college, studying hard and making rapid 
advancement; he schemed and schemed, 
and so did his father and mother, but 
it was no use — they simply could not 
afford it. 

Ralph’s father was almost as disap- 
pointed as Ralph, for he loved and ad- 
mired his son, and years ago, when he 
was a wealthy man and Ralph a mere 
toddling infant, he had planned to send 
him some day to the best college in 
America. During these last two weeks 
of vacation, when Ralph’s friends and 


6 


classmates were leaving one by one for 
college and he saw the sad look on his 
son’s face, his thoughts turned back con- 
tinually to nineteen years before, when 
he had been a man of means. He could 
see his friend, who was cashier of the 
bank in which he had everything, warn- 
ing him to take out^ all his papers and 
money, as the bank was going to fail; 
he could hear the president of the bank 
arguing at the little window that every- 
thing would be all right, and that he 
had better leave his money; he could 
feel himself emphatically shaking his head 
“No,” and receiving through the barred 
window the bag which contained his 
wealth — fifty thousand dollars in bonds, 
mortgages, and money; he could remem- 
ber how heavy that bag felt, and how 
securely he had locked it in the iron safe 
at the rear of his store, feeling that he 
had done the best thing. But most viv- 
idly of all could he remember the shock 


7 


he received the next morning when he 
found that his store had been broken 
into, his safe dynamited, his money gone. 
That shock had turned his hair white, 
and though he had tried hard ever since 
that memorable morning, he had never 
gotten ‘‘squarely on his feet” again. 

This was the trend of his thoughts 
when Ralph came sauntering in, looking 
bluer than ever. “I jUst saw Fred off, 
father,” he said; “he has gone to Chi- 
cago. He didn’t seem very enthusiastic 
about it. Gee! I wish I had his chance.” 

The tears came into his- father’s eyes 
and his voice trembled as he took Ralph 
by the hand and said : “I wish you did 
have his chance; I wish you could go, 
my son.’’ 

Ralph looked steadily at hig father for 
a few minutes, as if he were studying 
him. He never realized until that mo- 
ment that it was a disappointment to 
his father also, and that he was feeling 


8 





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it very keenly. Suddenly he said, with 
a new ring in his voice: ‘‘That s all 
right, father. You ’ve made the best of 
your misfortunes for nineteen years, and 
I ’m going to make the best of my dis- 
appointment for the rest of my life. 
Every cloud has a silver lining, and per- 
haps it will all be for the best. I ’m 
going to ‘forget it,’ and before I start 
into a winter of hard work, I ’m going 
camping with Joe to-morrow. We ’ve 
been talking about it all summer, and 
finally decided that if we didn’t go in 
a hurry, we would never get there; so 
we ’re going to-morrow — that is, if you 
can spare me from the store. What do 
you think about it, father ? ’ ’ 

“ Yes, indeed, son,” his father replied; 
“go right ahead. It will be great sport 
for a few days. Take whatever you need 
from the store, and have a good time.” 

Ralph spent the rest of the day and 
a few hours that evening in preparation 


11 


for the camping expedition, and the next 
morning he and Joe started before sun- 
rise. Joe had borrowed his brother’s 
horse and his neighbor’s wagon, and to- 
gether they had packed four blankets, 
six fishing-rods with all accompanying 
apparatus, a couple of guns, a tent, two 
cots, a change of clothing, a few gro- 
ceries, some bacon, some old cooking 
utensils, and numerous incidentals. All 
day they traveled, and it was almost 
dark before they reached their destina- 
tion, which was a very secluded spot in 
an immense lonely forest several miles 
from home. A river which ran near this 
spot afforded excellent opportunities for 
fishing and swimming, and the gentle 
green slope down made it an ideal place 
■:o camp. 

“It looks like rain,” said Ralph as he 
jumped off the wagon and pulled out 
the tent. “I guess we ’d better hurry. 
Joe; those clouds look heavy, and it ’s 


12 


only about a half-hour till dark. If a 
storm comes up, our lantern won’t do 
much good, and we ’ll have to work fast 
to get our tent up.” 

The boys kept watching the clouds 
and worked as fast as possible. If they 
even thought of being tired, a distant 
peal of thunder urged ithem on; and fin- 
ally, as they were bringing the things 
from the wagon to the tent, great drops 
of rain commenced to spatter. A heavy, 
impenetrable cloak of darkness enveloped 
them, and the air seemed thick enough to 
cut with a knife. However, the boys 
had been up so long and had had such 
a long, tiresome ride that they did not 
even light the lantern, but stumbled 
around in the blackness until they found 
their blankets and cots, on which they 
threw themselves in utter exhaustion, 
and, in spite of the loud claps of thunder 
and the breaking of the trees, soon fell 
asleep. 


13 


The storm raged and raged, and about 
midnight there was a peal of thunder 
that brought both boys to their feet in 
the middle of the tent. 

“I thought that was Gabriel blowing 
his trumpet,” remarked Joe. 

“You must have a guilty conscience,” 
Ralph said in a sleepy tone of voice. 
“ I thought it was you, snoring.” 

“Thanks,” Joe replied as he yawned 
expressively; “but if there are any more 
like that one coming, I ’d prefer to be 
awake — I think I can hear it better.” 

“That must have struck pretty near; 
I think it hit the foot of my cot,” Ralph 
concluded, with a yawn even more pro- 
digious than Joe’s. “ Say,” he continued, 
“let ’s take a peek out.” 

Carefully they felt their way to the 
side of the tent, where they lay down 
and raised the canvas very gently. A 
gust of wind fairly took their breath 
away as it whistled through the tent. 


14 


and the rain beat against their faces un- 
til they were thoroughly awakened; still 
they continued to look out into the black- 
ness. The mournful wailing of the wind 
combined with the creaking of the trees 
only added forlornness to the already 
dismal night, and the boys almost wished 
they were home. Two or three times 
they dropped the canvas, but picked it 
up again each time in hopes that a flash 
of lightning would soon reveal to them 
something of the exterior world. It 
seemed as if they had lain there an hour 
when suddenly the very heavens were 
split by a flash that transformed black- 
ness into brightness; it was only mo- 
mentary, but the sight it revealed left 
a lifetime impression. 

In among the bushes, not twenty feet 
away, they had seen the most ghastly, 
weird-looking face a mortal could pos- 
sess. Long white hair, snarled and mat- 
ted, blended with a heavy white beard 


15 


to make a sort of frame for this grue- 
some face. A pair of wild, restless eyes, 
with shaggy eyebrows serving as a sort 
of curtain, looked straight at the boys 
in an uncanny way. The lightning gave 
the whole face a sort of greenish tinge, 
and the boys trembled with fear. 

“Oh!” groaned Ralph as his nervous 
fingers let the tent drop, “did you see it ? ” 

“ Yes, ” whispered Joe . “ Could it have 
been a man? It didn’t seem to have a 
body— at least, I didn’t see anything but 
just a face in the bushes.” 

“Wasn’t that enough?” Ralph ex- 
claimed. 

Both fell into silence for a few minutes, 
but they crept a little closer together, 
and they did not raise the tent again 
that night. Neither could get to sleep 
again, for the shock had been such a se- 
vere one, the face such a ghastly one, and 
the storm such a dismal one, that they 
were wide awake, nervous and restless. 


16 




THE FACE IN THE FOREST 







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They spent the rest of the night in 
speculation as to the past, present, and 
future of such a face; they attributed 
all sorts of crimes to the owner of it; 
they conjectured as to his dwelling, his 
everyday life, and as to why it was the 
kind such uncouthness led them to be- 
lieve it was; they thought out one plot 
after another in which that face would 
prove an excellent villain; but as the 
hours wore away they knew no more 
about it than when the flash of lightning 
had revealed it to them in that lonely 
and secluded spot, with the bushes for 
a background. 

At last dawn broke on a quiet earth, 
and the peace which always follows a 
storm reigned undisturbed except for the 
music of many birds. As Joe and Ralph 
emerged from the side of the tent opposite 
the bushes they were impressed with the 
grandeur of the scene. Never had it 
looked so beautiful, so bright, so fresh. 


19 


so perfect, and there were no harsh whis- 
tles, no clanging bells nor grating street- 
cars, to break the harmony. There were 
signs of a struggle with the elements, for 
broken twigs, limbs, and trees told only 
too plainly the havoc which had been 
wrought the night before; but now every- 
thing was peace, and the previous strug- 
gle was forgotten in that peace. 

“Let ’s take a look at those bushes,” 
said Joe; “I ’d like to get another look 
at that — whatever it was.” 

“On an empty stomach?” questioned 
Ralph. “Well, I ’m ‘game’ if you are — 
but let ’s go together.” 

Stealthily they slipped around the tent 
until they could get a good view of the 
bushes, but they were quite ordinary- 
looking bushes in the daylight, and no 
face nor any trace of a human could they 
find; so they partially forgot the incident 
in their strenuous efforts to fry bacon 
and make coffee. 


20 


They spent the morning getting ac- 
quainted with their surroundings by ex- 
ploring for short distances in various di- 
rections. They were very anxious to get 
another glimpse of the mysterious face 
they had seen the night before, so they 
looked into every hollow tree and cave 
and among the deepest foliage, in hopes 
of finding some sort of a dwelling which 
they might connect with the face; but 
no sign of anything pertaining to man 
came to their view. 

“Let ’s go swimming,” said Ralph af- 
ter dinner, at the same time stripping off 
his clothes. “Perhaps we ’ll see that old 
‘duffer’ in the water somewhere. He 
looked like one of those water-kings I 
used to read about in fairy-books. May- 
be we ’ll dive into his ‘palatial residenee 
down in the briny deep,’ or, better still, 
into his majesty himself.” 


21 


“All right,” said Joe, who had stripped 
while Ralph was rendering his latest hy- 
pothesis; “I ’ll beat you in.” 

Both started on the “dead” run, and 
one loud splash of water told that both 
had gotten there at the same time . 1 he 

water was just the right temperature and 
very deep, and consequently they en- 
joyed themselves immensely until they 
were tired out, when they crawled to 
shore to rest, 

“Just look at that big tree across 
there,” said Joe, pointing to an immense 
tree opposite them on the other bank. 
“Wouldn’t it be great if we could have 
a grapevine swing, and swing way out 
across the river from it? That biggest 
branch which comes right over this way 
would be ‘ a peach ’ if it only had a vine 
on it.” 

Involuntarily both boys, with their 
eyes, followed the branch from the trunk 
out, but their gaze paused about half 


22 


way, at a place where the foliage was 
thickest. They gasped and shivered with 
horror, for there, in among the thick fo- 
liage, the leaves forming a sort of frame 
and background, they saw that horrid 
face again, the wild eyes looking straight 
at them; but, as on the night before, it 
was gone in an instant. 

“ Oh! ” they exclaimed, looking at each 
other; “isn’t it the limit?” 

“Don’t you think the fellow who owns 
that face is a miserable specimen of a 
man?” said Joe. “Ihe idea of always 
sneaking around that way and trying to 
scare a fellow! ” 

“He isn’t trying to scare us,” replied 
Ralph. “He ’s watching us, and I ’d a 
lot rather be scared than watched. I ’ll 
tell you, Joe, it ’s funny the way that 
old chap acts; he looks kind o’ scared 
and he acts so awfully sneaking. I ’ll 
bet he has a guilty conscience, or else 
he is crazy. Let ’s solve the mystery; 
what do you say ? ’ ’ 


“Splendid!” cried Joe. “I ’m with 
you in anything you do. The very next 
time we see him, let' ’s run him down, 
providing he ’s on terra firma; and if 
he ’s ‘up a tree,’ let ’s keep him there 
till we starve him down'. I ’ve a sort of 
shaky feeling,” he continued, “and I ’d 
give anything if I had my gun. I guess 
I ’ll go up to the tent.” 

“I don’t feel like swimming any more 
myself,” Ralph added. And with that 
both dressed"^ and went up to the tent, 
where they lost no time in cleaning and 
loading their guns. 

The afternoon slipped’ by faster than 
the morning, and evening found the boys 
smoking contentedly in front of their 
tent and speculating some more as to 
the mysterious face. Suddenly Ralph, 
who was planning a very complicated 
plot for solving the mystery, stopped in 
the midst of a sentence. 


24 


“Listen!” he whispered, pointing to- 
ward the river. “Splash, splash, splash,” 
came the gentle, measured stroke of a 
well-manipulated paddle, and the boys 
held their breath with the expectation 
of seeing or hearing something more. 

“My! but that ’s a long stroke,” Joe 
breathed as it already commenced to 
sound farther away. “Hurry, Ralph; 
come down to the shore,” he called as 
he started on the run. 

Never had ground been covered in a 
shorter space of time and it was less than 
a minute till they were looking as far as 
eye could travel up and down the river, 
which had no obscuring bends or curves 
for a couple of miles. They looked care- 
fully along the shore on both sides; they 
listened with their ears to the ground; 
they hid among the bushes with the ex- 
pectation of hearing the “splash” once 
more — but it was all in vain; nothing 
could they see or hear. 


25 


“I ’ll bet it was that face again,” said 
Ralph, “and I ’ll bet he heard every 
word we said and then made his escape. 
I ’m not going to stand it any longer, 
Joe. We both came out here to rest, 
and there ’s no rest about it, either men- 
tal or physical, by day or by night, and 
we ’ll both be subjects for an insane asy- 
lum if we don’t solve the mystery, and 
do it pretty quick. To-morrow let ’s 
swim across and explore the opposite 
side. From the very fact that the old 
chap was in that tree over there this 
afternoon, it would be a natural conclu- 
sion that he ’s familiar with both sides, 
and as we can’t find him or his dwelling 
over here, perhaps we ’ll be more suc- 
cessful on the other side. I ’m getting 
so I can’t sleep, eat, or move without 
expecting to see that face, and somehow 
it gives me such an uncanny feeling.” 

“‘Them ’s my sentiments,’ too,” Joe 
replied. “If we can’t get hold of him 


26 


and demand an explanation, I ’m ready 
to leave.” 

That night the boys were so nervous 
and excited from their day’s experiences 
that they imagined every noise they 
heard was connected in some way with 
the mysterious face, and they pitched 
the contents of their tent, one after the 
other, at objects they saw in the dark, 
until there was nothing left but the cots 
they lay upon; even the potatoes and 
the few eggs which they possessed were 
thrown with vim, one after the other. 
Most of these were directed toward an 
object in the bushes which appeared to 
be all head and shoulders and which 
seemed to be gradually creeping up closer 
and closer, but somehow never quite got 
there. 

As had been the case the previous 
night, dawn was very welcome, and as 
soon as it was light they hurried out to 
see if the thing with the big head and 


27 


shoulders was trapped in the bushes, or 
if it had made its escape. They were 
two pretty shame-faced young men when 
they discovered nothing but a thick tree 
stump about two feet high, its side near- 
est the tent literally plastered with eggs 
and its roots covered with potatoes. They 
both came to the conclusion that they 
had been very foolish, and their ardor 
in running down the mysterious face was 
somewhat dampened. However, they 
were positive that the face was real, for 
they had seen it twice in different places, 
and in daylight, too; so that afternoon 
they swam across the river and very cau- 
tiously landed bn the steep and slippery 
bank of the opposite side. 

“You go one way, Ralph, and I ’ll go 
the other, so we ’ll make a sort of cir- 
cuit. If you see him, or anything in the 
way of a dwelling that looks as mysteri- 
ous as he does, just blow like this three 
times through this whistle,” said Joe, 


28 


demonstrating and handing Ralph the 
whistle as he concluded. 

They started off in opposite directions 
and tramped and tramped until nearly 
dusk; they looked in every hollow tree 
stump, and explored every empty caye; 
they watched the ground carefully, and 
examined with scrutiny every footprint 
they found; they searched among the 
densest foliage of the highest trees, and 
looked behind all the bushes in their 
path. Both were nearly exhausted, and 
Joe was just ready to give up when he 
heard, away off in the distance and to 
his right, Ralph’s signal — three short 
whistles. He answered, and started off 
immediately in the direction of the sound, 
walking and running at intervals. He 
did not know and could not tell just how 
near he was, or if he was still going in 
the right direction, but Ralph’s repeated 
signal soon brought him within shouting 
distance. 


29 


“What did you find?” he called to 
Ralph as he canae into view. 

Ralph gave him the sign to keep quiet, 
and he came up very softly, dodging be- 
hind trees as if he were afraid of being 
shot every minute. “Well, what is it?” 
he questioned in a breathless whisper. 

“Come on and I ’ll show you,” Ralph 
answered. 

They crept along slowly, stealthily, 
and silently until they came to a very 
low, inscrutable hut, made out of woven 
branches and twigs and situated in such 
thick foliage that it could only be seen 
by the closest observation. No windows, 
doors, nor chimneys gave it the stamp 
of human habitation; no sign of any liv- 
ing creature gave it the appearance of 
ever having been used for a dwelling; yet 
Ralph had found the fresh print of a hu- 
man foot in the soft dirt, and from this 
fact alone had concluded that this se- 
cluded and unobtrusive structure must 


30 


be the sleeping-place, at least, of the 
mysterious face. 

They listened very quietly, and then, 
as they heard no sound, they crept up 
closer and peered in. It was too near 
dark, however, to distinguish anything 
but a much- warped board floor, made of 
bits and scraps of lumber which had evi- 
dently been brought many miles; an 
inoffensive-looking pile of rags in the 
comer, which probably served the pur- 
pose of a bed; and a very small, dilap- 
idated stove, with a battered rusty tin 
can upon it. 

“Let ’s hide in this foliage and watch 
till he comes in, if it takes all night,” 
said Ralph. “I’m dead tired, but after 
we ’ve discovered this much, let ’s stay 
here till we fathom the whole thing. 
We ’ll see what time the old chap comes 
in and what time he leaves, and then 
we can explore his ‘bungalow’ without 
accepting his hospitality.” 


31 


‘ ‘ All right said Joe ; “ you climb that 
big tree there in front of his majesty’s 
palace, and I ’ll climb the one at the 
rear. Don’t fall asleep and make a ‘ mut ’ 
out of yourself by dropping right at his 
feet.” 

“Oh!” exclaimed Ralph in a crabbed 
way, “ I ’m just as anxious to see this 
through as you are, and if any one falls 
asleep, it ’ll be you.” 

By this time darkness had settled 
down, and the boys waited in their 
cramped position for what seemed hours 
to them. It was such hard work to 
keep awake, and Joe dozed off two or 
three times, but caught himself each 
time before falling. The frogs, owls, and 
crickets did their best to keep them 
awake, and Ralph was very grateful to 
them. There were only two more days 
of camping, and he had firmly resolved 
that those should be spent in peace. This 
resolution, together with his thoughts. 


32 


helped to keep him awake, and as he 
lay on the branch of the big tree almost 
over the little hut he was lost in a reverie 
of what might have been. 

Suddenly he was disturbed by a gen- 
tle “splash, splash, splash,” coming from 
the river. It was the same long stroke 
they had heard the night before, and he 
formed a conclusion to one of his thoughts 
as he listened. Soon there was a rus- 
tling in the undergrowth and a very soft 
tread on the leaves. Ralph peered into 
the darkness, and with the aid of the 
dim starlight was able to discern some- 
thing white moving among the bushes. 
A few seconds later it came more clearly 
to his view, and once again Ralph be- 
held the wizard -like face, and once again 
the sight of it sent a shiver over him. 
For a few minutes he could see nothing 
except the face moving hither and thith- 
er, but as the old chap gradually crept 
out of the undergrowth on his hands and 


33 


knees and finally stood up, just before 
entering the hut, he saw for the first time 
the uncouth, ill-clad, misshapen body. 
The shoulders were drawn in; the back 
was bent until it was easier to move on 
the hands and feet than upright; the 
legs were crooked and knotted with mus- 
cle; the arms were long and almost 
touched his knees; the hands and feet 
were exceedingly large for such a dwarfed 
body, and the nails were like claws. This 
unsightly body was clothed in rags about 
the waist; the rest was bare. 

Ralph shuddered as he watched the 
old chap vi^niore like an animal than a 
man) slide into the hut. He lay there 
thinking and thinking about the daily 
life of such a being. He wondered at 
the cause of such degeneracy, and won- 
dered if there would not be in the hut 
some trace of the man’s, relatives. He 
lay there for nearly an hour, giving the 
old man plenty of time to become sound 


34 


asleep; then he slipped down very qui- 
etly and started toward Joe’s tree. As 
he passed the hut he heard mutterings 
and grumblings the equal of which he 
had never heard before; once there was 
a gentle cry, as of a child; then again 
there was a terrified scream, as if some- 
one were very much frightened. Ralph 
paused for a few minutes, and listened, 
but, as he was certain there was no one 
in the hut besides the old man, he con- 
cluded that he must be talking in his 
sleep. Here indeed was a way whereby 
knowledge might be gained as to the old 
chap’s relatives; so he decided to get 
Joe and come back to listen. 

When he reached the tree, he quietly 
tossed a stone up towards Joe, and then, 
as there was no response, he climbed the 
tree and called him very softly. That 
did not prove sufficient either, for Joe 
had tied himself to the branch, by means 
of his coat, and had gone to sleep. 


35 


“Come on, you lazy rascal,” whispered 
Ralph, shaking him; “and don’t make 
a bit of noise. The mysterious face has 
turned in for the night — came up the 
river — and he is talking in his sleep; 
come on and listen.” 

They slid down as quietly as possible, 
and stole up to the very opening of the 
hut, where they listened long and silent- 
ly. At first they heard nothing but mum- 
blings and sounds that seemed more in- 
human than human, but at last they 
were able to make out one word which 
was repeated continually, then one or 
two others, and finally they heard a con- 
glomeration of words with “floor” used 
predominantly, as ‘ ‘ floor — board — floor 
— And — want — floor.” With a groan, the 
old man stopped, and the boys ran back 
to their hiding-places as fast as possible. 

Ralph was wider awake than ever for 
the rest of the night, and as the first 
rays of the sun shone into his face the 


36 


next morning he knew that he would 
not have much longer to wait. Just as 
he was thinking this he saw the mis- 
shapen body and weird face come out 
of the hut on hands and knees, crawl 
through the bushes, and disappear. A 
few minutes later he heard the long, 
measured stroke on the river, and he 
knew that the old chap was gone for 
the day. 

He fairly fell out of the tree, and, run- 
ning to Joe’s tree, he called to him, say- 
ing: “Come down quick; he ’s gone up 
the river, so now we can go in and ex- 
plore. Let ’s tear up every board of 
that old floor. I just know, from the 
way he talked in his sleep, that there ’s 
something under it. Perhaps we can 
find some papers that will give a trace 
of his relatives, or maybe the cause of 
his living this kind of a life is under that 
floor.” 


37 


By the time he had finished telling Joe 
this they had reached the hut and Ralph 
had dropped on his hands and knees and 
crawled in, with Joe after him. 

“It seems to me,” said Joe, “that this 
is about the dirtiest place I was ever in. 
Where shall we begin?” 

“Let ’s tear up the middle board and 
work out toward the edges,” Ralph an- 
swered. “You get hold of that end and 
I ’ll jerk up on this, and I guess we can 
do the business.” 

A grunt from each and a heavy creak- 
ing noise told that they had “done the 
business.” They pulled the boards up, 
one after another, until they got to those 
upon which the pile of rags lay; the rags 
they kicked across the hut, and then 
commenced to pull up the few remaining 
boards. 

“Oh, look here ! ’ ’ cried Ralph. ‘ ‘ These 
boards are sawed crosswise, and these at 
my end are not fastened so securely as 


38 


yours. It begins to look like there was 
something doing, Joe. Just watch me 
make these boards fly. Don’t bother 
about tearing up yours till I get these 
loose ones up.” 

One after another the boards flew 
across the hut until there were just four 
left. Ralph pulled fast and furiously, 
but paused suddenly, for he saw some- 
thing gray and musty-looking projecting 
from under the last two boards. He 
picked it up, regardless of consequences, 
and ran to the opening, Joe at his heels. 

“Oh, it ’s a bag!” Ralph exclaimed; 
“gee! isn’t it heavy?” 

‘ ‘ Open it quick, ” Joe cried ; ‘ ‘ pull that 
string and turn it upside down right here 
in my hat.” 

“Oh! oh! oh!” both boys exclaimed 
as gold-pieces, greenbacks, and papers 
showered out of the bag. 

“Look at those papers, Ralph, while 
I count the money,” Joe commanded. 


39 


But the command was unnecessary, 
for Ralph was already opening the much- 
worn papers. He gasped and turned as 
white as a sheet, while his hand tightened 
on the paper until he almost tore it. Joe, 
glancing up and noticing Ralph’s pallor, 
ran to him at once, asking what was 
the matter. Ralph tried to answer, but 
words failed him, and he pointed to a 
name on the paper. 

“What!” Joe cried, “you don’t mean 
it! And all this is rightfully his! Oh, 
Ralph! you don’t suppose this is the for- 
tune he had stolen so long ago ? ’ ’ 

Ralph only nodded his head, but he 
commenced to pile everything back into 
the bag — gold, greenbacks, paper, and 
all. “Come, Joe,” he said in a husky 
voice; “let ’s break camp as quick as 
possible; we must get to town by mid- 
night.” 

They packed the wagon and com- 
menced their long drive, and this time 


40 


it seemed much longer than ever. On 
and on they went, not stopping for din- 
ner or supper, up one lonely hill and 
down another, through forest and village, 
in the bright, hot sun and in the cool 
evening air. Never did a horse move so 
slowly, and never did home seem so far 
away. They fairly crept along, and it 
was very late when they finally reached 
the edge of the town. 

All the way home Ralph had held the 
heavy, musty, gray bag on his lap, never 
releasing his grip nor relaxing his mus- 
cles one instant, and as the old horse 
slowed up in front of his home he sprang 
from the wagon and ran bounding up 
the steps. He reached for his key and, 
much to his relief, found the keyhole at 
once. 

“Father! Mother!” he cried joyfully 
as he stumbled into the dimly lit hall; 
“it ’s Ralph; come down quick!” 


41 


“Yes, yes, in just a minute. What ’s 
the matter, Ralph?” his mother called. 

But he could not wait; he went run- 
ning up-stairs, taking three or four steps 
at a leap, and, rushing into his father’s 
room, he cried: “Say, dad, did you ever 
see anything that looked like this? ’’hold- 
ing up the gray bag. 

His father sat up in bed, and as he 
gazed he commenced to tremble; he put 
his hand to his head as though he thought 
he was dreaming, and then reached two 
shaking hands toward the bag, which 
Ralph gently handed him; he poured 
the contents onto the bed, and quickly 
scanned one paper after another; finally 
he dropped back on the pillow, whisper- 
ing in a broken voice : “ Yes, it ’s mine — 
it’s mine — it’s mine! Tell me all about 
it, my boy.” 

Joe, who had followed Ralph, was 
standing at the foot of the bed, and 
when he saw that Ralph was too much 


42 


I 



IT’S MINE, IT’S MINE, MY BOY! 


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affected to give an account of their ad- 
ventures, he told the story from begin- 
ning to end — giving Raiph credit for all. 

When Joe had finished his narration, 
Ralph’s father took his son by the hand 
and, with tears streaming down his 
cheeks, said: “My boy, can you get 
ready in three days to go to the best 
college in America.?” 


45 












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What Big Sister Brought Bobbie 


“Oh! I just can’t wait,” said little 
Bobbie as he jumped up and down and 
clapped his hands. “ Only one more hour 
and she ’ll be here. Oh! she has been 
gone so long and I ’ll be tickled to death 
to see her. Just one more hour, just one 
more hour, just one more hour,” he sang 
as he skipped out into the kitchen. 

Mary, the cook, was busy peeling po- 
tatoes, but she could not resist looking 
up and asking little Bobbie the reason 
for his happiness. 

“Why, don’t you know?” he said. 
“Can’t you guess?* Isn’t this June, and 
isn’t College out? Big Sister is coming 
home, and it ’s only one more hour. She 
hasn’t been home for so long, and every 
time she comes she always brings me 


47 


something I ’ve been wanting so bad. I 
don’t see how big sisters always know 
just exactly what little boys want — but 
she does, and it ’s only fifty-five minutes 
now until she comes. 

Bobbie scarcely knew what to do with 
himself in that fifty-five minutes; never 
had time seemed so long to him, and he 
could do nothing but skip to the gate, 
then to the clock, then to Mother, and 
back to the gate. Finally he saw, away 
down the road, a cab coming, which 
seemed to Bobbie’s excited eyes to fairly 
creep along. Never did horses move so 
slowly and never did driver seem so in- 
different. Inch by inch it came, until it 
was only three blocks away, then just 
two, then it reached the corner, and at 
last stopped in front of the house. Bob- 
bie, who was standing on the curbing 
breathlessly waiting for the cab to stop, 
opened the door in mad haste and fell 
into his sister’s arms before she could 


48 



"OH! I’M SO GLAD YOU’VE COME," HE SAID, CLINGING TIGHTLY TO 

HER HAND. 








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possibly alight; but, as Mother was wait- 
ing to greet Big Sister also, he had to 
save sonie of his “bear hugs” until later. 

“Oh! I ’m so glad you ’ve come,” he 
said, clinging tightly to her hand as they 
walked slowly up the walk followed by 
the expressman, who was struggling with 
a heavy trunk; “and I Ve so much to 
tell you and so many things to show you. ’ ’ 

Big Sister could scarcely keep back the 
tears as she looked down into the dear 
little excited face. How she had seen 
that face in her dreams, and how she 
had planned to take home something 
which would please Little Brother more 
than anything ever had, and something 
which would be very much of a surprise 
and would continue to be a surprise all 
summer ! 

“Well,” she said, perched on her trunk 
half an hour later, with Bobbie at her 
feet and Mother not far away; “I Ve 
brought Bobbie something that will sure- 


51 


ly surprise him, but I don’t think I shall 
give it to him to-day, and maybe not 
to-morrow. I ’m not going to tell just 
when I ’m going to give it to him — that 
is going to be a surprise, too; maybe it ’ll 
be this week, and maybe it ’ll be a long 
time — we ’ll see.” 

Bobbie looked just a w^ee bit disap- 
pointed, but he was so glad to have Sis- 
ter home again that he was perfectly 
willing to wait, and ran out to tell his 
playmates that “she ’d come.” 

That night, when Mother, Father, and 
Big Sister were seated at the table, they 
all looked rather worried, for it was near- 
ly 6:30 and Bobbie could not be found. 
Seven o’clock came, and 7:30, and still 
Bobbie did not come. 

Dinner was over, and Mother was very 
much worried, when the door suddenly 
flew open and in rushed Bobbie, all out 
of breath. “You know our washwoman ’s 
little boy,” he panted, looking at his 


52 


mother; “you know he carries washings 
to his mother, and you know how far 
she lives and how much he has to^carry 
sometimes; well, I saw him coming down 
the street with a great big basket full of 
clothes, and he looked so pale and weak — 
honestly. Mother, he could hardly walk; 
so I asked him if he wouldn’t put his 
load on my new ‘ Irish Mail ’ and let me 
take it home for him. He was so thank- 
ful he almost cried, and I wheeled it all 
the way to his house. He got so sick 
that I had to wheel him on top of the 
clothes some of the way, and I had to 
go awful slow, but we finally got there. 
He thought my ‘ Irish Mail ’ was so nice 
and just the thing to carry clothes on; 
he said it would help him a lot if he had 
one like it, but he supposed he would 
never have money enough to get him 
one. I felt so sorry for him. Mother, 
that I just gave it to him.” 


53 


“Why, Bobbie!” exclaimed his moth- 
er, “you don’t mean you gave him your 
new ‘Irish Mail’ that you ’ve wanted so 
long?” 

“Yep,” replied Bobbie, “that ’s what 
I done.” 

Big Sister listened very attentivelv to 
little Bobbie’s breathless account of where 
he had been and what he had done, and 
when he finished, she slipped quietly out 
of the room, went upstairs to her trunk, 
and quickly opened the lid; she pulled 
out a large bag and slid her hand into 
it, but it did not take long to find what 
she wanted, and her hand came out with 
a package in it. She went silently back 
down-stairs and straight to Bobbie, who 
was holding his head in his hands and 
looking thoughtfully at the floor. ‘ ‘ Here, 
Bobbie, I guess I can give it to you to- 
day, after all,” she said as she handed 
him the package. 


54 


Bobbie looked up surprised, but lost 
no time in untying the string and re- 
moving the paper. It felt hard, and 
when he moved it, something jingled; 
he caught a glimpse of something bright, 
and when he finally got the last paper 
off, he found a nice bright bank with 
twenty-five shining copper pennies in it. 

“Oh!” he exclaimed, jumping up and 
down, “that ’s just what I wanted to 
put my pennies in, and now I can save 
up enough to get another ‘Irish Mail.’ 
Mother, Mother, just see what Sister 
brought me! It ’s even nicer than the 
one I saw down in the store window and 
wanted so bad. Oh! it ’ll hold a lot of 
pennies, and I ’m going to put everyone 
I get into it till it ’s clear full, and then 
I ’m going to buy an ‘Irish Mail,’ a 
picture-book, a knife, and — and — a lot 
of things.” 

“ Bobbie,” said Big Sister, after he had 
quieted down, “can you play that I ’m 


55 


a fairy this summer? You know that no 
one ever knows what fairies are going to 
do next or when they are going to do it, 
but good little boys are always glad to 
have them around. It was very thought- 
ful and kind of you to help the wash- 
woman’s little boy, and very unselfish in 
you to give him your wagon, and the 
fairy is proud of Bobbie. Suppose you 
see this summer how many kind deeds 
you can do for others and how unselfish 
you can be. You know we never lose 
anything by giving to others, and it soon 
becomes a habit that everyone admires. 
Now run out and play, and don’t for- 
get to put all your pennies in your new 
bank.” 

Bobbie threw his arms around Big Sis- 
ter’s neck and gave her a real hard hug; 
then he kissed her and ran out to play 
for a few minutes before going to bed. 
He was very happy — he thought because 
of his iievv gift; Sister thought because 


56 


he had made the washwoman’s little boy 
happy. Perhaps it was both. 

One hot afternoon, about two weeks 
later, Mother and Sister heard a pound- 
ing in Bobbie’s room, and, after a few 
minutes, went in to see what had caused 
it. There in the middle of the floor was 
Bobbie’s new bank with the door broken 
open and the pennies gone. They could 
not imagine who had gotten into the 
bank, and they dreaded to tell Bobbie 
that night, for fear he would be disap- 
pointed. 

However, they were spared the trouble, 
for Bobbie came in that evening with a 
very radiant, happy face. “Can’t guess 
what I done this afternoon. Sis,” he said. 
“I suppose you ’ll scold me ’cause I broke 
my new bank, but I had to — it wouldn’t 
come open.” 

“Why, Bobbie! ” cried Mother and Sis- 
ter together, ‘ ‘ was it you who broke the 
bank ? Why did you do it ? ” 


57 


“Guess,” replied Bobbie; “give you 
three chances. Please try.” 

After several guesses by Mother and 
Sister, Bobbie said: “Well, Elsie — ” 

“ Who is Elsie ? ” interrupted Big Sister. 
“Why,” answered Bobbie, “she ’s the 
little girl who lives down in the next 
block, and last week she fell out of the 
apple-tree and broke her leg. This after- 
noon I was down there to play, and she 
said she wanted a picture-book so bad — 
one with stories about boys and girls and 
animals, and one with colored pictures. 
She said she wished and wished for one 
all the time, but no good fairy seemed 
to hear her. So I thought I ’d play like 
I was a good fairy just once and bring 
her one, and that ’s what I spent my 
money for. I hid it under the pillow 
on her bed, and I ’m sure she ’ll find it 
to-night; then she ’ll think the good 
fairy heard her, after all.” 


58 



‘‘IT SEEMS TO ME THAT YOU SPENT YOUR MONEY IN A VERY GOOD WAY, 

BOBBIE,” SAID MOTHER. 


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“It seems to me that you spent your 
money in a very good way, Bobbie,” 
Mother said as she drew the weary little 
fellow up onto her lap, where she told 
him stories until he fell asleep. 

That night, before Sister went to bed, 
she slipped once more to the trunk and 
took another package from the bag, which 
she now called her “fairy bag.” She 
went softly into Bobbie’s room and laid 
it on a chair by his bed. 

Early the next morning everyone in 
the house was awakened by gleeful ex- 
clamations coming from Bobbie’s room. 
Finally he came running down the hall 
to Mother’s and Father’s room, shouting: 
“Just look here! Isn’t it a peach? And 
I wanted one so bad. Just look at that 
big blade and this little one! And it ’s 
got a pearl handle! Father, it ’s as big 
as yours, and I ’ll bet it ’s sharper!” 

Suddenly he stopped and was lost in 
thought a minute; then, without saying 


61 


another word, he ran into Big Sister’s 
room and climbed in bed with her. 

After thanking her in his sweet little 
way, he said: “Say, Sister, do you sup- 
pose I made the washwoman’s little boy 
and Elsie as happy as you have made me 
this morning ? ” 

“Yes, I ’m sure that you made them 
just as happy,” she replied. 

“Well,” said Bobbie, “I ’m going to 
play like I was a fairy too, then, all the 
time. It ’s awfully nice to be as happy 
as I am this morning, and I ’m going to 
try to make someone just as happy every 
day.” 

Sister felt as if the “fairy bag” had 
accomplished half of its mission already, 
and before the summer was gone it had 
served its purpose well, for Bobbie learned 
to be thoughtful, unselfish, and consid- 
erate, and it grew to be a habit. His 
playmates all loved him, and the neigh- 
bors all thought he was a very good boy. 


62 


To Bobbie the summer was full of sur- 
prises and very short; short because it 
was such a happy one, and a happy one 
because he had learned one of the greatest 
and best secrets of life — the secret of mak- 
ing others happy through thoughtfulness 
and unselfishness. 


63 



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